Diamond Dust
by Ashi
Summary: Okay, I think I overrated this, but I didn't want to *underrate* it, so...Cliche title, I know. Darker themes. Short.


Hello! This is my first finished Final Fantasy 8 story, and it turned out sadder than I intended, but I'm pretty happy with it. Anyways it's about Squall(of course!) and his relationship with the Guardian Force, Shiva. 

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Final Fantasy 8™ in any way, shape, or form, so please don't sue me, as I'm not trying to steal your thunder or anything, anyway. I'm just writing a story for my own twisted amusement. But I do own this story! Joy of joys!

Note: I know the characters disappear when they summon, but I have a bad habit of sort of doing my own thing so…Hey, it makes things interesting, though, right?!

****

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire, 

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if I had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that, for destruction, ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

_Robert Frost_

Diamond Dust

She burst from his fingers into the bright winter morning, sending shards of ice dancing in the air, glinting like diamonds as She came. The creature before her, a monstrous, blood-colored beast with black, curved horns and cruel reptilian eyes that looked carved from obsidian, folded its bat-like wings around itself, its scaly belly brushing the ground as it cowered before Her, as if knowing its fate. 

She brought Her arms over her head, focusing the energy in her palms, feeling Her boy pouring himself into the attack as she gathered the Divine Power. She felt it swelling within Her, rushing to her entwined hands where it glowed with an ancient magic. The sheer veils of Her headdress billowed out behind Her, fluttering in the icy wind as she arched with the force of her Power . It erupted from her palms as She snapped them forward, the Dragon snarling in agony as it died, the ice magic splintering like glass around the beast. 

And then She was rushing back to him, Her boy, as he waited suspended in the air, his arms outstretched to accept Her. His hair rustled in the magical breeze as She passed into him, seeking the place he had prepared for Her in his mind. She felt the boy becoming aware of himself again as his feet touched ground, his blue-gray eyes opening slowly and squinting in the snow-reflected light, sharpening as they rested on the dead Dragon. She sensed him smile although he showed no outward signs of it, and She was glad She had made him happy; Her boy rarely smiled any more. 

She had missed those private rewards, the brightening of the dark corners of his mind as he expressed his thanks to Her. She smiled back, knowing he would feel it. _You are mine_, She told him, and She felt the boy silently agree. He was so deserving of Her power, this grateful, fragile, wonderful Boy. Others had tried to harness her magic, trap Her in their minds, thinking they could contain a goddess. And She had killed them for their foolishness, their arrogance, ripping them apart from the inside. But the Boy understood Her; he was not like the others. She would protect only him. He belonged to Her. 

She watched as he walked past the Dragon's body without glancing at it, his breath clouding in the frosty air. She knew that the cold was affecting his frail human body, but he took no notice as he moved steadily toward his destination, a glowing circle of blue light arching up from a snow bank at the edge of a grove of pine trees. 

He stepped into its center, fiery beams of light immediately sprouting from the ground and spiraling around his body as he drew the magic into himself. The boy's dark lashes fluttered closed as it rushed through his veins like liquid mercury, traveling to his mind as She waited. She accepted it hungrily, allowing the raw ice magic to seep into Her core and meld at Her will. She felt the Boy shudder as the last of it surged up his spine, and She knew it was for Her. Her heart swelled with a pleasant warmth at the knowledge. Her boy was so good to Her. 

When She had finished drinking the magic he had offered Her, he stepped out of the draw-points circle, which was now pulsating weakly, drained of its store. She could feel blood running warm from a gash in his arm, a mark of the previous battle, but he did not bother to cast a curing spell on himself as he brushed through the dense trees, the snow crunching beneath his boots.

A short time later, needly, sweet-smelling branched parted to a small clearing, and the Boy walked to the center of it, where he stood, staring off into the distance, as if he could see beyond the line of trees. There was no wind here, and the stillness enveloped the Boy as he stood in silence, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth.

His filtered memories flitted past Her, suprisingly vivid for Her influence on the part of his brain that held them. She had carved out a place there to accommodate Herself, as all Guardians did to make room in the minds of their respective humans. But She had not been a captive, and She had not destroyed his memories. Instead, She had absorbed them into Herself, drinking them like magic, making Her a part of the Boy. That was why She already knew what he was thinking about. She remembered too.

She remembered the nauseous feeling that had burned in his gut when he had found the Junior cadets, dead in the classroom they had been trapped in when the roof collapsed on them; the boy had forgotten they were there, waiting for his orders. She remembered his intense trepidation when informing the parents, and of his quiet acceptance when they blamed him. Their words echoed in his head as he offered unheard apologies and walked away, shoulders hunched in defeat. But She was with him, always. She was there to comfort him when he woke up screaming in the night, when he was scared, or hurt, or angry. Always, She was there.

She was there when that golden-haired girl never came back, and She was with him when they blamed Her boy again. She had begged him to release Her when those insolent people glared at him as they passed in the halls, directing cruel whispers at him from a safe distance, treating him as if he were the lowest creature on the Earth's face. But he had ignored Her pleadings. He had accepted their hatred. He believed them. How could they hurt Her beautiful boy, Her kind , lost, lonely boy? But they did not care, and the Boy's sadness grew with each day, and still She stayed with him, sent him into a dreamless sleep at night, whispering softly to him from Her place in his mind. _I will protect you._

And today he had set off on his own, and summoned Her to fight with him just like before, and She had hoped he had forgotten. But as he stood motionless in the snow, his lovely storm-colored eyes resting on some faraway point, She knew it was not so. "Shiva…" He whispered Her name, knowing She was listening. "I'll miss you…" Her confusion filtered through him, but the boy did not speak again for several minutes. The blood was running freely from his arm now, dripping crimson into the snow. Finally, he spoke aloud into the clearing. "I'm going to set you free."

_I do not wish to go. I will stay with you, Child,_ She answered, Her words echoing in his mind. _You are mine._

"I am", he said slowly. "But you're not mine. I…I can't keep you anymore. You deserve to go free."

_I am happy, Boy. I am happy with you._

"Please…You can't be trapped inside my body…You'll die with me."

_Boy, you will not pass into that land for a long time. I will protect you, always._

"I will miss you, Shiva", he said again, as if he had not heard Her. "You have to go now." The blood trailed down his forearm in rivulets now, glancing off his sword to stain the snow crimson, and in that instant, She knew. But it was too late; She could feel his mind opening up as he muttered an incantation under his breath, and then She was being pulled away from him, away from Her boy when he needed her most. She was being pulled back into the cold air again, the trees bending and swaying in Her wake. But this time, She would not be defending Her boy; Now, she was being forced away from him, though She fought desperately against the magic that bound Her, reaching out to the Boy as he watched Her drifting into the winter sky, a look of deep sorrow etched somewhere behind his eyes. 

And then he was gone, and she was cradled in the wind, icy tears trailing down her cheeks, crystallizing instantly into tiny jewels that resembled the diamonds of her homeland.. _But, you belong to me…_

****

OWARI

Note: I'm seriously wondering if I can write something NOT depressing and angst-full. Oh, well, I guess. Something longer would be better, too…It just seems like I never finish anything unless it's short. Kinda frusterating.


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